


like home

by sizhu



Series: Heartwyrm [1]
Category: Yuri!!! on Ice (Anime)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Fantasy, Dragons, Established Relationship, M/M, depiction of bloody feet because dragon scales are sharp, unrepentant bastardization of unicorn lore
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-06
Updated: 2018-12-06
Packaged: 2019-09-12 16:34:05
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,359
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16876329
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sizhu/pseuds/sizhu
Summary: Local horned creature Katsuki Yuuri tracks blood on his floors because he stepped on sharp dragon scales while distracted with thoughts of his Draken lover, one Viktor Nikiforov.





	like home

**Author's Note:**

> I wasn't actually sure any of this universe would see the light of day, but here we are. I have something else from it i'll post sometime soon. Hopefully this will help keep me somewhat motivated to _not_ abandon this project.

Basic housekeeping was a nightmare when you were also a parent of very young and very curious hatchlings. Yuuri did his best, truly, but with a newly hatched clutch of dragonlings underfoot, getting any work done without stepping on them was a trial. He also had a skull-splitting headache. He’d shed his antlers not long ago, and the new ones were slowly but surely growing in. The scabbing had just begun to peel away. And by the gods, did they itch. Yuuri huffed and danced around six dragonlings before shooing them out the back door with his broom. He watched them climb and stumble over each other in their skittering, all trying to get through the dog-slash-dragon door at the same time. The result was a dragonling traffic jam. Yuuri shook his head, laughing. He walked over to the door and nudged them all out with his broom. They popped out on the other side with indignant squeaks and puffs of smoke—they weren’t old enough to start breathing fire yet, thankfully. Yuuri wasn’t ready to deal with having the end of his tufted lion tail singed on the regular. Currently, it was wrapped around his waist and hidden under his shirt, away from the sharp nipping of teething dragonlings.

Yuuri watched them tumble into the yard and start playing with each other more actively, now that they had more room. He waited until they were all preoccupied with their new activity before shaking his head and returning to his sweeping. They were just beginning to shed their first scales, tiny glittery things that were razor sharp but more fragile than faerie wings. Better to sweep them up quickly before someone cut their foot open. Someone like his other half, who insisted that he was immune to the sharpness on account of his also being a dragon and would stubbornly trail blood along the wood floors. Floors that were once, perhaps a long time ago, pristine and unscratched. Before Yuuri found his first dragonling. Before Yuuri met Viktor, his Vitya, whose claws would scuff up the floors even when he treaded softly on bare feet. Maybe he’d finally replace the floors with something more dragon-friendly when these six dragonlings were old enough to leave home. He should say something to Vitya about that. After these, no more until some much-needed renovations. Fireproof renovations.

He stepped on an unswept portion of floor and directly on a pile of tiny dragon scales. He didn’t feel it, on account of the soles of his feet being tough as the hooves of his somewhat-cervine alternate form. In fact, he didn’t notice it until he’s already tracking blood. Just like Vitya. Yuuri stopped and looked around at his tracks, brows furrowing. He let out a soft sigh, as he debated what to do. On one hand, he needed to finish sweeping out the scales. On the other hand, if he didn’t stop, he’d get blood _everywhere_ , and the longer the blood was allowed to settle on the wood, the harder it would be to get out. Yuuri was still stuck in his thought-cycle when the front door swung open.

“Yuuri—” Viktor’s usually bright and eager greeting fell as he took in the half-swept floors and the bloody footprints. “Oh, Yuuri, darling… Are the younglings outside?”

“Ah—yeah. They were getting underfoot, so I shooed them out.” Yuuri blinked back to himself and looked up at Viktor. If the non-sequitur confused him, he didn’t react. “They’re starting to shed their first scales. There might be a big pile at the dog door.”

“I noticed.” Viktor, his Vitya, crossed the threshold completely while pulling off his foot straps. Shoes were impossible when you had claws constantly tearing through the material. “Let me guess, you didn’t feel it?”

“I have hooves, Vitya.” Yuuri watched Viktor step inside and around the bloody footprints. “You didn’t bring another clutch home, did you?”

“Oh, no, not today.” Viktor smiled. When he got close enough, he scooped Yuuri up into his arms, kissing the little nubs on his forehead, healing and scabbed over as new antlers slowly grow in. Yuuri doesn’t protest. “Probably for the best, since you’ve gone and sliced your feet open. And something tells me you want something.”

“Fireproof flooring,” Yuuri muttered. “They haven’t started Breathing yet, but they’ve been hiccuping smoke today. They’ll start soon, and the floors are ruined enough as it is between Dragonbreath and your claws. I want a nice stone.”

“They’ll be grown and leaving in two years.” Viktor laughed, hauling his beloved into the bathroom and setting him on the counter, careful to step only on the areas where it was clear Yuuri had already swept clean. He ignored the blood dripping from the soles of his feet. “Where did you put the antlers you shed?”

“I haven’t ground them up yet.” Yuuri furrowed his brows. “There should still be some salve in the medicine cabinet.”

Viktor hummed his acknowledgment and rifled through the medicine cabinet behind Yuuri’s head. Thankfully, Yuuri had the foresight to duck forward. He rested his forehead on Viktor’s shoulder while Viktor searched, and he breathed deeply. “Where were you today, anyway?”

“Well, I _was_ looking for abandoned nests,” Viktor admitted. “I didn’t find any.”

“That’s good.” Yuuri sighed. It’s not that he didn’t love raising the dragons Viktor brought home, but it was getting alarming, how many he’d find and how often. Not finding any abandoned nest meant that Viktor hadn’t run across any evidence of Dragonhunters. Or worse—Drakenhunters. The difference: Dragonhunters left creatures like Viktor alone. Draken were those rare dragons who had alternative, human forms. Much older, much smarter, much stronger.

Yuuri, a Cernunnos, and often referred to as a minor deity, was left alone on principal. He hoped that any Drakenhunters would leave Viktor alone, simply by association with a Cernunnos. Yuuri sighed again, closing his eyes. Viktor was still rearranging the cabinet shelves behind him, looking for the salve made with the magic bone dust ground from Yuuri’s fallen antlers. The noise was domestic enough to ease Yuuri’s mind.

“I think you should stay home for awhile…” Yuuri mumbled. “Help me with the spring cleaning and not out there looking for trouble. At least for a little while.”

“I already planned on it, darling,” Viktor said, pressing a kiss to Yuuri’s head. “Nothing can keep me away for too long. Ah, here it is. Plenty left.”

Viktor shut the medicine cabinet and nudged Yuuri gently. Yuuri took the hint and scooted over on the counter so Viktor had room. He watched his Vitya turn the faucet and wet a dark cloth, as Viktor knelt and wiped the blood away from the soles of Yuuri’s feet, as Viktor applied the salve with the kind of tender care afforded only to something—or someone—precious, treasured. As the salve settled on skin, it absorbed into the wounds on Yuuri’s feet, leaving behind perfectly healed flesh. Such was the magic found in Yuuri’s alchemy—and his antlers.

“Let me do the floors, Yuuri. Go outside with the little ones. Enjoy it before the rains come. I expect we’ll be soaked soon. I saw the clouds on my flight home.”

“But—”

Viktor silenced Yuuri’s protest with a kiss, nipping playfully, but always mindful of his sharp teeth. “Stretch your legs. And I mean all four of them.”

“I—” Yuuri sighed, returning Viktor’s kisses. “Okay. But it’s your turn to feed them.”

“Of course, darling. I’ll feed you, too.” Viktor winked.

Yuuri snorted softly. He pressed a kiss to Viktor’s cheek before leaving him alone in the bathroom. Mindful of his steps, Yuuri picked his way through the house and into the backyard, where he shed his human form. On four dainty legs and cloven hooves, Yuuri joined the dragonlings, herding them around the yard and guiding them away from the forest tree line. They continued like this until Yuuri was overcome by his dragonlings and found himself lying in the grass as the dragonlings clamored over his cervine body.

Viktor observed from the kitchen window with a small, adoring smile.

There was no place like home.


End file.
